Acoustical material



p 1944. F. J. TAFORO, JR 2,357,560

ACOUSTICA-L MATERIAL Filed Aug. 9, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR. FRANK 1 YIN-0R0 J2.

ATTORNEY-5.

Sept. 5, 1944.

F. J. TAFORO, JR

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Patented Sept. 5, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE The present invention relates to acoustical materials and more particularly to a combination of substances having desirable acoustical qualities with other substances having desirable structuralqualities and appearance.

One type of acoustical material in general use consists of mineralwool or other fibrous r porous substances having a high coeflicient of sound absorption concealed in metal pans by means of which it is. supported and attached to the surface to be treated; The metal pans are perforated to admit the sound to the substance which they conceal, but present a sufficient hard smooth surface for convenience in painting and cleaning in the manner of an ordinary wall or ceiling surface. This material is applied in small sections over the surface of a complete ceiling. It is not itself adaptable to permanent ceiling construction and, therefore, adds greatly to the cost of the. interior with which it is used. It is also undesirable, in that it is applied in small sectionsor square tilelike members which present unsightly and undesirable crevices at their abutting edges.

It is the object of the present invention to-provide a material having good acoustical properties and a smooth exposed surface and which may be used structurally'as an integral part of the surface which it forms. I

A- further object of the invention is to provide an acoustical material, the principal structural portion of which is in the .form of a metal lath adapted to be applied over metal or wood joists or other structural forms-and adapted to receive a coating of plaster which coversup certain perforated portions of the metal lath behind which is concealed a sound absorbent material.

One; form of the present invention is exemplifled in the accompanying drawings to which detailed reference is made inthe'following specification, wherein furtherzobjects and advantages .of the invention are madeapparent.

- In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an acoustical -material embodying the present invention applied toa ceiling and cut away to expose a transverse. section thereof;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portionof the metal part of the acoustical material illustrating the construction at the end of a sheet by means of which it may be attached to an adjacent sheet; and i Fig. 5 is a plan view of a sheet of the metal used in the acoustical material.

In the following description, the present invention is disclosed as formed principally of sheet metal, rock wool and plaster. These materials are, however, referred to in the specification to exemplify any similar or equivalent substances.

For example, the sheet metal may be replaced by any relatively rigid material suitable for the purposes described and the term rock wool is used to signify any one of a large class of porous or fibrous materials known to have the quality of absorbing rather than reflecting sound.

Referring tothe drawings the invention is shown as comprising a sheet generally indicated at N of metal or other relatively rigid material. This sheet is bent or formed to provide alternately arranged parallel channels and ridges. The surfaces of the ridges which are to be exposed are shown at H and are all formed on a common plane so that the channels may be filled with plaster as shown at I! finished to the same level. In the operation of applying the plaster the ridges are used as screeds to aid in forming a perfect smooth, planar surface over the entire area' of the material.

The reverse sides of the ridges, which are the upper sides when the material is applied to a ceiling as illustrated; form elongated receptacles for Dads l3 of rock wool and these pads are preferably supported in spaced relation to 'thesurfaces II which are perforated as indicated at to admit sound to the receptacles containing the acoustic pads. The spacing between the perforated surface II and the rock wool has certain acoustical advantages and makes itDOSSibleIlio wash or paint the exposed surface of the material without moistening or otherwise efiecting the rock wool. The number, size and spacing of the perforations H is determined by the best practice and does not constitute a part of the present invention. I a I .i f l The preferred manner of supporting the acoustical pads in spaced relation to the surfaces H is by forming the pads with chamfered edges as shown so'that-they will register with angularly disposed portionsal f the side walls of the receptacles in which they are disposed. The pads are usually covered with a very light muslin which does not interfere with their soundabsorbing properties but which serves to preserve their shape and prevent deterioration.

The upper portions of the receptacle wall are, as shown at I 6, disposed at right angles to the surfaces H and the backs of the plaster channels are re-entrant to form a shallow plaster space and to form walls I! which cooperate with the portions IE to form a rigid partition between adjacent sections of the material. The re-entrant backs of the plaster channels have bottoms i8 which are provided with relatively large spaced perforations I! through which the plaster flows when it is applied so that it is securely keyed to the metal in the manner illustrated.

In practice, the metal component of the material is secured in place with the acoustic pads positioned within their receptacles, and then the plaster is applied with a trowel Or the like according to accepted methods. In order that the perforate surfaces II will not be obstructed by plaster, even though they are used as screeds in levelling oil the finished surface, they are covered with a thin paperlike material 20 which may be peeled or soaked off after the plaster has set. This material may be durable paper secured in place with a water soluble adhesive or may be Cellophane, holland, or any suitable moisture resistant strip secured with a pressure sensitive gum of the type which permits of its removal by peeling.

When the plaster has been applied, the thin strip which covers and protects the perforations i4 is removed and as its thickness is negligible the resultant surface has the appearance of a perfect plane which when painted or tinted is enhanced in appearance by the spaced strips of dots formed by the perforations it which extend throughout the entire length of the surface.

The manner of securing the metal in place may vary with the type of construction of the building in which it is to be used. In Figs. 1 and 2 it is shown in place as a ceiling supported by metal furring channels, one of which is indicated at 22. Wire, as shown at 23, may be passed over the channels and through the plaster key perforations I9. With the ends of the wire twisted and cut it will be entirely-concealed by the plaster.

In a wood joist ceiling the metal may be quickly and inexpensively applied by nailing through the plaster perforations, and as illustrated in Fig. 3, distortion of the metal may be insured against by the use of collars 23a, the inside diameters of to a depth that will bend the metal and they may be provided with flanges 25 larger than the plaster key perforations through which the collars extend.

In securing the metal either to wood or metal joists or furring, the edges of the partitions Hil I abut and are aligned by the structural members of which they are secured with the result that the exposed surface portions I I are aligned in a plane parallel to the joists or furring and a perfectly flat wall or ceiling surface is therefore easily maintained if the underlying structure is properly aligned.

The metal components may be made in panels of any size and their size is determined by the sizes of sheets from which they are formed with consideration for convenience in handling and shipping. The sheets from which they are formed are sufllciently thin to permit of thei being readily cut to reduce their size when the dimensions of a surface to be covered necessitates.

It is contemplated that for rooms of average dimensions a plurality of the metal panels will be required to cover a ceiling. They are, therefore, formed for convenience in Joining to give the appearance of a continuous surface. As shown in Fig. 5, the edges-21 of each panel will terminate as plaster key surfaces and will overlap to form a joint which may be secured by wire passing through the plaster key perforations and be entirely concealed by plaster. One end of each plaster key surface may be extended to form a tongue 28, and at their opposite ends these surfaces may have tabs 29 punched out to be bent through perforations 30 in the tongues of an adjacent sheet, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The tongues 28 are ofiset, as shown at 3i in Fig. 4, for a distance equal to the thickness of the metal so that the exposed abutting edges of the plates will be aligned in a common plane.

This alignment may be further insured by backing plates 32 which are bent to fit within the receptacles which contain the acoustic material and retained in place by pins or nails 33 passed through perforations 34 provided for this purpose. Both ends of the nails so used are disposed in the plaster channels so that the plaster secures them against removal and conceals them from view.

A plurality of panels are used to cover a surface and positioned with their ends abutting and overlapping in the manner described and with their side edges overlapping. As the corners of the panels would normally overlap with adjacent panels at the sides and ends there would be four thicknesses of metal at each corner. To prevent this bulk of metal and the consequent misalignment of the panels both of the edge sections 21, as illustrated in Fig. 5, are formed without the tongues 28, and one of these sections is cut away, as shown at 28, for an area equal in size to one of the tongues 28. Thus, when the panels are placed together there are but two thicknesses of metal at each of the overlapping corners.

With the present invention an acoustically treated wall or ceiling surface of fine quality may be made at relatively low cost because of the fact that the acoustical material forms a part of the wall structure itself. The metal component serves and is applied much in the manner of ordinary metal lath and saves the cost of lath. The plaster required is less than for a conventional plaster wall and as it is in narrow strips extended cracks are unlikely to occur. The plane hard surface is easily decorated and cleaned and it presents an unusually neat and attractive appearance.

Having thus described and illustrated my invention. what I claim and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Acoustical material comprising a thin sheet of relatively rigid material formed to present a surface of alternate channels and ridges, said ridges presenting planar perforate surfaces, and a filling of plastic material in the channels to the plane of the ridge surfaces to present an exposed surface of alternate perforate and nonplate formed to provide alternate channels and ridges, the surfaces of said ridges lying in a plane and being perforate, and a temporary covering of paperlike material on the perforate surfaces to protect them during the filling of the channels with a plastic material.

4. Acoustical material comprising a metal plate formed to present alternate channels and ridges, said ridges being perforated and concealing sound absorbing material, said channels having perforations to form a keying surface, and a plaster filling in said channels.

5. Acoustical material comprising a metal plate formed to present alternate channels and ridges, said ridges being perforated and concealing sound absorbing material, and said channels having perforations to form a keying surface for a plaster filling and means disposed within the channels and adapted to be concealed by the plaster filling for securing the plate in place in a building.

6. An acoustical surface composed of strips of plaster and exposed perforate metal alternately arranged to provide a plane surface, and a sound absorbent concealed by the perforate metal.

'7. An acoustical surface formed of sheet material bent to form elongated areas on alternately high and low planes, plaster covering the low planes and finished to the level of the high planes, said high planes being perforate, and a sound absorbent material concealed behind them.

8. An acoustical surface formed of sheet material bent to form elongated areas on alternately high and low planes, plaster covering the low plane and finished to the level of the high planes, said high planes being perforate, and a sound absorbent material concealed behind them and strips of paperlike material temporarily covering the perforate surfaces to protect the perforations during their use as screeds in levelling the plaster.

9. An acoustical surface comprising a sheet of material formed to present ridges and channels, said ridges having co-planar perforate surfaces, sound absorbing material concealed by said perforate surfaces, and a filling of plastic material in said channels finished to the level of said perforate surfaces.

10. An acoustical surface comprising a sheet of material formed to present ridges and channels, said ridges having co-planar perforate surfaces, and being arranged alternately with said channels to provide a uniform pattern over the entire surface, sound absorbing material supported adjacent to and concealed by said perforate surfaces, and a filling of plastic material in said channels finished to the level of said perforate surfaces.

FRANK J. TAFORO, Ja. 

